Build your website.
Create custom maps & infographics.
Design your logo & build a brand.
Collaborate on any supplemental visual communications that support your organization.
An Interactive Tour of Digital Vintage Exploration:
Inspired by the newly digitized university and library collections made available online, this project was developed as an approachable tour of Chicago's Past by combining and streamlining cartography and images from a wide variety of these archives. The interface of this website aims to convey a sense of place and history through an interactive visual tour of the past somewhere in between academia and nostalgia.
A Print Shop of Graphic Tributes to beautiful buildings:
As the sister project to Chicago History Map, these art prints were born from our love of urban exploration & the stunning beauty of historic architecture. Every illustration is carefully crafted (by a human) to accentuate the ornamental details and craftsmanship of these architectural treasures.
Series of Info-Maps created for ArchiesPress.com:
Simplifying structures and neighborhoods, these maps combine essential elements and local knowledge to create a final design that communicates the essence of these geographic locales.
Transit Map / Diagram of CTA & Commuter Trains:
This Map Design was created to combine and simplify all of the various train routes in the greater Chicago area including The EL, Metra, & South Shore Line. The diagram is streamlined to focus on urban rail exploration in the city and beyond, and how to navigate connections between the various hubs, routes, and operators.
The use of infographics and data visualization as supplementary content can have incredible advantages. Complimenting and re-enforcing complex subject matter in a diagram or info-map can be an instrumental tool to educate and inform. This specific example combines a wide variety of published research in the field of positive psychology to create a streamlined reference guide.
The creative process that goes into a logo has arguably lost the prestige it once held in the days of Paul Rand and Massimo Vignelli. That said, the way you feel about your brand and what it represents has a critical part to play in todays marketing world, and we love helping small businesses and organizations feel pride in their perfect logo.
Website Design & Build | Branding & Marketing Management:
What started as a small project to design a logo evolved into building a website and implementing an extensive marketing outreach campaign. PreSquared is a medical industry startup with academic origins that uses machine learning technology to assist caregivers in the healthcare industry, and therefore it was critical to create thoughtful, quality visuals to communicate the complex intricacies of their technology.
Website Re-Design for a Digital Marketing Company:
For companies in the business of search engine optimization and web technology, the front and back end of the internet is constantly evolving. We were approached by Fusion to modernize the visual look of their website to compliment the power of their back-end technology.
Case Study of The Surf-Pine Grove Historic District:
Utilizing ArcGIS, this project was created to study the historical architecture in a specific designated district of the city of Chicago. Through archived maps and photographs, the story aims to communicate a sense of living history within the neighborhood.
Vagabond Studios was originally born as a part time venture and passion project while Ryan was living and working on yachts overseas. Inspired by the art and history of his experience abroad, a wide range of project ideas began to take shape. Based on recent demand and emerging technologies, the studio has expanded into building websites, and taken many projects into the digital sphere to explore the art and science of way-finding, maps, history, and visual communications.
Catherine joined the team in 2018 as an accomplished designer with a background in the field of product design, and her eye as an art director is unparalleled. She has also spent many stints working abroad in locations like London, Croatia, Italy, and Portugal (to name a few) leaving a digital trace of images showcasing an incredible skillset as a travel photographer as well.
Although Catherine and Ryan have spent many stints abroad and on the move 'vagabonding' in years past, today we are proudly based in the city of Chicago. Because we operate as a small, independent studio, we can offer quality deliverables at a reasonable cost. Interested in some design work or collaborating on a project for your business or organization?
